Meditation for October 15th, 2016
It’s Too Easy to be a Hipster
I wrote this on my old Tumblr blog in 2010.
From local weekly newspapers to the New York Times, the Hipster has become an American icon for the youths art, music and fashion. They are everywhere and sometimes one of them will be telling you about how much they hate Hipsters. They’ll make you feel stupid for not knowing about some band, or chide you for not knowing about a local artist, and confuse you with picking an expensive complex menu item but then getting a Pabst Blue Ribbon. How do they find out about all of these things and what keeps them up to date on what they need to be experts on? This is what it makes it too easy to be a Hipster now: the Internet.
When I was in college (the first time) I could still turn in hand written essays and only a few were using American Online as their access to the World Wide Web.I was then jealous and critical of the Hipsters then. It was worst then because I was their age and trying to keep up, and even some of my friends would call me a hipster, and to keep up with everyone, I had to work hard.
First off, I didn’t have the internet to look up shit. This required the mail, the public library and going to a fuck load of shows, and it required active participation to the scene. It also required the hardest feat of all, and that was swallowing your pride and asking someone about what something is, and that meant admitting you didn’t know.
My friends and I lived all over the US and the world and we would write each other letters and send local zines, mix tapes with local bands, and photographs of local art. This made going to the mailbox an exhilarating experience. Mail was an educational source and meant an active participation; why would you send something to someone that never sent anything back?
I miss taping tapes and CDs and radio shows and making mix-tapes. Not being all that rich, I couldn’t afford to grow a large record collection, so I had to use the Library card and tape everything I got. I also would tape whole shows on the radio and then go back and tape the songs I liked. I would also borrow as much music from my friends as possible. And since this was before smart phones, I carried a small notebook to note any band names, writers or artist I found. The real excitement was teaching someone else though. I loved making mix tapes for someone who wanted to hear some new music and this is the time to shine, for it’s one thing to boast knowing a band, but it’s another giving it away to someone who tells you later they fell in love.
I always want to show up before the first band plays at shows. I know a lot of times the opening bands, especially at small shows, can suck, but there is always some gems. This is where the literature and art world lacks in helping newer unheard of artist to get recognized, but in the music world, the opening bands, especially the first band is the chance to see someone completely new.
The last effort that used to help in learning the culture of the Hipster, was being involved. Most of these scenes were DIY scenes, and back when I was involved it wasn’t a participation scene. Everyone contributed to cultivate the bands and artists. I feel that word of mouth is denying the hard work some of these people did to get people an audience. Zines and pre-corporate weekly newspapers, community and college radio, promoters, the bars and venues, the bands themselves, and the really cool guy who said they were going. Sometimes he or she said they were going, but never showed.
I feel like this effort is almost completely gone, or at least at half speed. The Hipsters only need access to the internet to learn and know. The art of knowing more has been lost, and the community is suffering for it.
Who wants to send me some mix tapes and zines from where you are from?